At a Helsinki, Finland seminar, former Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Canada exec. and new Nokia CEO Stephen
Elop was channeling a bit of psychic, predicting the deal would take a dire
turn for Android handset makers. He warned that they should "watch
out", stating to Reuters,
"If I happened to be someone who was an Android manufacturer or an
operator, or anyone with a stake in that environment, I would be picking up my
phone and calling certain executives at Google and say 'I see signs of danger
ahead.'"

Mr. Elop opines that the perceived difficulties with the Motorola Mobility
acquisition emphasize why Nokia
and Microsoft's partnership was a good idea. He states,
"The very first reaction I had was very clearly the importance of the
third ecosystem and the importance of the partnership that we announced on
February 11, it is more clear than ever before."

Ironically, many see things quite differently and draw parallels between the
two deals. While Microsoft did not take ownership of Nokia, it entered a
deep partnership, which included IP cross licensing and a
complete commitment by Nokia to Windows Phone 7. Many Microsoft
executives even have
migrated to Nokia under Mr. Elop's leadership.

In related news, Mr. Elop hinted that Nokia is moving along with the transition
to Windows Phone 7 was heading along well, commenting that 25,000 to 30,000 new
apps (presumably formerly Symbian apps) had been delivered by Nokia's developer
community to the WP7 platform.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

What this proves is that the majority of consumers do the same exact thing be it Windows Phone 7, iPhone, and Android putting having a mere 30,000 apps as being less fluff than having 500,000 apps. Were all using the same apps and those apps are the same on all three devices.

Now here is where Windows Phone 7 Begins to separate itself and all this is pre-mango update.1- Microsoft Office integration.2- 25 gig of Free Cloud storage or unlimited if you have a Windows home server OS $45.00.http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/17/windows-phone-7...3- Wifi sync plug in Windows Phone 7 and 10 mins into charging it wirelessly syncs with your PC and the Marketplace and your MP3's and Podcasts etc.4- X-Box integration - Limited but planned to grow.5- Zune pass is a better deal than iTunes.

Mango is very soon here is a subset of whats being added.Bing Audio: Shazam-style audio track recognitionMultitasking for third-party apps, deeper integration with live tilesAn overhauled Live Tile system (Details)Internet Explorer 9, support for HTML 5Bing Vision: Integrated scanning for barcodes, tags, text, etc.Voice recognition for drafting text messagesEmail folders pinnable to the start screen for quick accessFacebook Chat and Windows Live Messenger integrationNew conversation view for email exchangesAbility to search email servers for archived messagesNew Lync app for Windows Phone (IM and presence), a likely first step toward Skype integrationSupport for complex passwords (alphanumeric)Information rights management support for protected emails and documentsAbility to access hidden corporate WiFi networksNative podcast search and download in the Windows Phone MarketplaceIntegrated turn-by-turn directionsThe ability to send SMS text messages to preset groups of contactsIntegration of Office 365 and SkyDrive in the Office hubOverhaul of the Games hub, with an auto-sync featureTwitter integration into the Windows Phone People hubThe ability to quickly search for installed apps by keywordAccess to motion sensor and camera by third-party apps

Any time you want to see where your friends are—We're In can help you. It's simple, invite your friends, and when they join, they'll see your location and you'll see theirs. When the invite expires, so does the shared location – no complicated process to worry about.

Android has google doc integration that works pretty damn well. For everyone using google for their cloud stuff this is actually a pretty big advantage over win phone 7. Google cloud = docs, email, calendar, contacts, navigation, etc. I hope winphone7(man what a stupid name) stays around in case android gets off track, but as of now its pretty damn great. Winphone7's only advantage is simplicity, android has a tougher learning curve.

"2- 25 gig of Free Cloud storage or unlimited if you have a Windows home server OS $45.00"

I have to admit this is a pretty compelling feature. I use dropbox to do the same thing but am limited to a measly 2gigs.You know it would be really cool if MS gave you the option to automatically backup your mydocs folder to this free cloud storage. Think automatic backup in case of hard drive failure etc. as well as easy access to your data from anywhere. If MS did this they might draw me away from android.

Microsoft Live Mesh... You can backup your documents folder, or any other folder to the cloud. This isn't a new app, this has been around for years. I'm still surprised that people don't know about it. You can then access your SkyDrive from the phone and have access to your backed up files.

Now, if I understand correctly, accessing your SkyDrive in Mango will be even easier.

One of the main needs for cloud storage is for pictures and music. Now you have Google/Amazon with either free or cheap solutions. Not seamless, but pretty easy. That being said I am watching WP7 too, it is compelling on many levels.

Re:app usage I use my Android perhaps more than most (I am commenting on this website, that should tell you something) and have paid for very few apps. While I have deleted a lot of apps I also use a lot that may not be top shelf (Twitter, Wikipedia etc.).

I cannot speak for iPhone, but Android does most of what you already said, even including the Mango items. There is almost nothing in that list I can't do on my phone (Evo 3D, Android 2.3.4) right now, 90% of it right from Google.

The few things I can't do are mainly MS items (XBox, MS Office integration, etc).

An important part of the equation, however, is how it's done. Compared to iOS, I'm able to get in, get it done (whatever "it," is) and get out much more quickly and easily.

(How different is that vs Android? I don't have the experience to give a definitive answer, but Android felt a little kludgy to me (when I made the decision to move away from iOS, Android was my first consideration), and other than "openness," I didn't see what functionality difference it offered.)

Most of it is as simple as just downloading an app or it is already built into the system. I didn't need to change settings or hunt through apps to determine how to do all of the below.

Going down the list Mitch101 posted...

1) Android has Google Docs integration (which can also sync with MS Office with the MS Office addon)2) Google gives you free storage also, with cheap extra storage. Music itself is 20,000 songs, which going by my own music at 256kbps, you are looking at ~150+ GB's free at 20,000 songs.3) My phone is wirelessly synced (music, docs, contacts, etc) without it being plugged in.4) XBox, MS wins~5) ZunePass can be used on Android...

in the Mango area:-Just use Shazam-I hold my home button for a second, multi-tasking, with 3rd party support-Default android browser has had HTML 5 for a while now-Google Goggles out for ages-Already has voice typing-Can easily create shortcuts to email folders (just use "add shortcut")-GTalk integration, no facebook though (can use app)-not sure what conversation email is...-I can search my whole gmail from the integrated gmail on Android-Lync seems like Google Latitude/Talk/Plus-(I honestly have no idea on complex passwords)-I can do this in my office, so assuming so-I can do this in my office, so assuming so-Android admittedly does not have podcasts/music buying ability... again you would use Zune or Amazon apps-Google Navigation-Sending texts to groups, just type the groups name in the "to" field-Google Docs is an app for the integration-Twitter is integrated as wanted-Search button lets me search for apps using the keyboard-3rd parties have access to my motion sensor/camera already.

@AmbroseAthan: Well said and very true for 95% of people out there. I am sure the iPhone crowd could also say the same thing but they had to "do without" many things due to Apple's policies. They just accepted it instead of finding a proper solution.

The rest come down to the hardware features of the handset, eg GPS, Gyro, mag sensor, camera etc. In SE's case, the camera is very good and the new generation with Exmor sensor are excellent, so there is one differentiator that might just get more customers.Sorry to say that WM7 will have to really prove itself to get any sort of momentum. I would not think it can push more than 10M units by end of 2012.

You make some good points, but if nobody's buying them, then what good does it do? Platforms need critical mass before they become viable for everybody beyond eager first-adopters. I could name many iOS only apps/games which are not around on Android or Win7 and are not planned to be released, which mean that I will stay on iOS for the forseeable future at least until the end of the iPhone 5's lifecycle. I would like native office and SharePoint integration, but there are many 3rd party apps which integrate with SharePoint on iPhone/iPad already along with the Apple equivalents like Pages, Numbers, Keynote etc. There's nothing on the list that you can't do with iOS and several which have already been in place on iOS for a while. Whilst the interface is nicely designed and smooth (though too much vertical scrolling), I'll wait until version 8 before I take another look, and by that point Nokia devices will be around. MS lost me a long time ago when I ditched the awful WiMo to go to the first iPhone and never looked back.

If I were another hardware vendor, I'd have a hard time believing that Moto, now in-house, wouldn't get major preferential treatment, sooner or later. Is it reason to immediately jump ship? No, and I don't think that that's what Elop is suggesting, either. It would be, however, reason enough for me to start looking for a way to hedge my bets.